Monday, March 23, 2015

On Friday March 20, 2015, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced approval of the genetically modified (GM) apple, trademarked “Arctic Apple”. The GM apple is now legal to sell in Canada and the US. The company says it will start selling GM “non-browning” varieties of Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apple varieties next year. But will any stores actually sell the GM apple?

The apple is genetically modified to not turn brown after being cut. Polls show that almost 70% of Canadians did not want this GM apple approved. Are you one of them?

Take Action

Grocery chain stores are listening to customers. Please write your letter to the head office of your grocery store this week. Contacts are posted at http://cban.ca/content/view/full/1903 or you can visit the company website to find a phone number. Your letter is very influential. Please send the responses you get to info@cban.ca

Information and other actions, including a "No GM Apple” pledge form for your small independent store, are posted at www.cban.ca/apple

Today’s press release from CBAN is below. Please send this press release to your local paper. Send your own letter to the editor, to your local newspaper, if you have something to say about the GM apple.

“Our government is not listening to Canadians,” said Lucy Sharratt of CBAN. “Fruit growers had asked the government not to approve this GM apple and polls show that a majority of consumers don’t want it on grocery store shelves.”

The GM apple is genetically engineered not to turn brown after being cut. If it gets onto the market, it would be only the second GM fruit sold anywhere in the world, after a Hawaiian-grown papaya, and it would be the first GM fruit to be grown in Canada.

“The GM apple will mislead consumers because it will look fresh even when its not,” said Teresa Lynne of the CBAN member group, Society for a GE Free BC, “The GM apple threatens the reputation of apples as fresh, wholesome food. We don’t need it.”

A 2012 survey commissioned by the BC Fruit Growers' Association and the Federation of Quebec Apple Growers showed that 69% of Canadians didn’t want it approved.[1] Growers are concerned that the GM apple will negatively affect the entire market for apples.

“Growers are right to worry that without clear labelling many consumers will buy fewer apples just to avoid this GM apple,” said Thibault Rehn of the Quebec Network Vigilance OGM, a CBAN member group. “We need our grocery stores to step in to protect the consumer interest and the apple industry by keeping their doors closed to this GM apple.”

The GM apple will not be labeled as genetically modified though the company says that fresh GM apples would be have a sticker bearing the company's trademark “Arctic Apple”. The company promises a similar logo on food products that have ingredients from the GM apple but it’s not clear how this would be implemented or enforced. Sliced GM apples used by the food service industry are unlikely to be labelled.

The US government has also decided to allow commercialization of the GM apple.

CBAN is a campaign coalition of 17 organizations that researches, monitors and raises awareness about issues relating to genetic engineering in food and farming. CBAN members include farmer associations, environmental and social justice organizations, and regional coalitions of grassroots groups. CBAN is a project of Tides Canada Initiatives.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Are you looking forward to tomatoes in your garden this year? Me too! In our household, tomato season has already started, and it's busy. This year I've been wondering just how many tomatoes I have, so I've decided to make a list of each colour, starting today with the bicolour. These will all be available as plants for your garden at my sale on the Victoria Day weekend (May 16,17,18- 8-4pm each day)
Here we go:

Monday, March 9, 2015

This winter has been full of surprises.
Not necessarily the kind of surprises that make you go "wow" with a super excited exclamation mark for emphasis.
It has been the kind of winter many people my age have described as "how winter was when I was a kid."
It's true.
Lots of snow and cold, winter sports, if that's your thing as well as shovelling and cancellations.

I heat our house with wood, having a back up oil furnace, used only when I have no other choice. Even after ordering an extra cord this winter...no surprise here....I've run out. There is more on the way tomorrow, thanks to a nearby farmer who bring it down on a manure spreader and spits it out into my drive for stacking.

A surprise for me this winter was my cistern whose water froze into a nice big block of ice. In my 20 years living here, that's a second occurrence only.
Another surprise was my inability at certain times over this winter to get into my greenhouse where, lo and behold, my greens were still surviving and growing albeit very slowly.

Today is a different story though. It's hard to resist a sunny winter day, and after lunch I hit my hoophouses. I pulled back the ag fabric from my crops, and it's apparent to me that the mustards, arugula and other crops know that spring is coming. They have jumped now as the days grow longer and the sun shines a bit more frequently.
Also hard to resist was the temptation to lay down for a while on the ag fabric, my face to the sun, jacket stripped just to drink in a bit of faux summer. It feels so good.

It really does make me think spring and plans for spring.

Again this spring I am holding my spring planting workshops, "Sowing Seeds for 2015." If you are interested in growing your own from seed this year, these are a good chance to come, sow and learn.
There are two dates this year, Sundays March 22 and 29 from 2-4 pm. These dates both still have openings, but if the previous years are any indication, in the last few weeks, they fill up quick quickly.
For registration information, please check my website HERE
These workshops are very informal, fun and have always been attended by great people-like you!
We will sow seeds for tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, and there will be some other options for you too if these don't make you happy. You will also pick up an additional 10 vegetable seed packs for direct seeding in your garden. We'll talk about proper seeding techniques, how to grow on all your choices in your home garden and quite a bit more. As you may suspect, I will talk for the entire two hours, but I really hope people come armed with questions too.
We'll be working in one of my larger hoophouses on the greenhouse tables. If the sun shines, it will be warm, maybe even hot. If not, it may be chilly. Come dressed for any temperature eventuality and come prepared to get dirty.
All seeds, soil, containers and refreshments are provided by me.

Friday, March 6, 2015

All my sweet peppers and eggplants are seeded. Happy days Next I will get to work on flowers, but for now I'm feeling pretty good about it all.
If you head out to my sale on what I hope is a wonderful warm weekend in May(16th, 17th and 18th) you can expect to find a good selection of sweet peppers and eggplants. I hope you can find what you are looking for in my list.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

As I look out my window today, March 1, I see snow coming down, drifts of snow and I can feel the cold right through the windows.
My heart goes out to the poor creatures who struggle to survive in this bitter cold. Percy, my big orange tabby stray has hunkered down in my garage for the winter, occasionally stepping out to harass the other not so fortunate strays whom I feed and try to take care of.
My chickens have two heat lamps in their home, and sadly I've lost Wendy, a barred rock this winter no doubt due to age, but without a doubt the cold didn't help.
Joey, my precious pot belly, fashioned a spectacular bed out of pillows and straw, and centred it under his heat lamp. I know he's worked hard to stay warm. Despite monstrous proportions of hot gruel, he has maintained his slender shape, his body burning calories to stay warm.
I've been making the rounds of "seedy" events in the area, slipping and sliding on our Ontario roads with my cases of seeds.
Yesterday was Hamilton Seedy Saturday, always a good one. I love seeing the young families coming in, enthusiastic and excited about the possibilities that may happen in their 2015 gardens.
I've also been to Brantford and Kitchener, but the highlight for me was my own little event in Wellandport. Honestly I have struggled for years, wondering if people would bother to come out to this little village in the middle of nowhere. But come out they did, on a bone-chilling snowy day. It was superb, and great to see neighbours, friends and gardening enthusiasts. It sure helped to chase away the winter blues that have plagued me this year.

Also helping in this effort is the fact that now it is time to start thinking about getting a few things seeded. I started doing a bit last week, but my efforts will ramp up this week.
I do have some of my very hot peppers seeded, but this week I will finish all the peppers. First in will be the rest of the hots, then all the sweets. I know when I have my sale in May that I always run low on sweet peppers, so this year, I promise, I will overdo it. It's time for the eggplants too and I have a huge variety of them this year as well. If you need eggplants, please let me be your girl.
I am a little late with onions and leeks, and the pressure is on. But not really. I don't find a huge difference between onions and leeks seeded in February and those seeded in March. I'll get mine in this week and feel really good about it.

Mid-March I begin seeding tomatoes, but only because I have so very many to do. I will seed them for weeks, day in and day out. If I was only planting a reasonable amount, I wouldn't think of doing it before April 1. There's no reason to. I find the tomatoes I seed March 15 and the ones I seed on April 1st all end up being the same size when I put them in the ground in late May anyways. So don't rush it. Relax. Seeding things extra early won't make the good weather come any sooner, even though it would be lovely if it worked like that.
And sorry for the lack of posts here. I'll be back very soon with the highlights from last years garden and my thoughts on great things to try in your garden this year!

About Me

I have a BSW degree, and worked as a social worker for quite a few years, before getting out (with most of my sanity intact) to farm.I grew up on a farm and this is what i was meant to do. I have two wonderful daughters, as well as 3 dogs, 6 cats, a pig named Joey, chickens, ducks and a bunny. All are family.